Ben's Blog

"The campaign is global - the dollar ain't what it used to beSwitch a franc for a dollar, you get like 1.3" —Ryan Leslie, Swiss Francs

As a blogger, I'm often asked what I read and how I find content for my daily posts. Often, it's merely just a glimpse of something tangible that inspires me, perhaps content that I am utterly fascinated by, or leaves a lasting impression I refuse to forget. With that being said, I do spend considerable time scouring the web for material I connect to. One of my favorite reads is Ben's Blog, written by Ben Horowitz. I've always found the role of a Venture Capitalist fascinating, and Ben is one of my favorite subjects. He's known of course for his post as cofounder and Partner at Andreessen Horowitz (leading notable investments in Twitter and Skype, making 4x its investment) and his active tweeting, spunky style of blogging and engagement in the technology world.

All of Ben's blog posts are accompanied by rap songs and witty lyrics like the above, taken from his January post 'Learning from my Mistakes' with usually a slice of news or insight into recent investments or experiences in the venture capital world. So, read up, get on board, and subscribe to his twitter feed, here.

Taking it to the Cloud: Amazon's AWS

We touched on this in class in b-school, but it will be interesting to see how Amazon fares with their cloud computing business, known as Amazon Web Services (AWS).  It is certainly a strong growth opportunity for the electronic commerce company, a company that is now larger than IBM and Walt Disney in market cap, and on the brink of becoming one of the largest conglomerates. Amazon is now a mega-corp made up of an e-commerce company, a hardware and device maker, a government services provider, a cloud computing and marketing company, a transportation and logistics outfit, a lender, a payment processor, and a warehouse operator. WHEW.  Earnings were released last Thursday, with $1.56 billion in sales the first quarter, up 49% from the year earlier. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos has called AWS a "$5 billion business." Industry experts are watching this roll-out like a hawk. Key success factors will be the adoption of the large enterprise business, which will come hand in hand with businesses trusting Amazon to control mass quantities of valuable corporate data, a cultural shift to boot.

Above: CEO Jeff Bezos.

Campaign Stool

I'm increasingly impressed by Serena & Lily's furniture products as of late, and this leather stool does not disappoint. For product specs, visit here.  

On the Market: A Villa in the French Riviera

Panoramic views of the Mediterranean Sea, a rose garden, a vegetable garden, a covered terrace and ocean breezes for days.... this home in the French Riviera is on the market. To view this property and more, visit here.

Sweet Sentiments from Julia Child

I loved this article in the WSJ about a Thank You letter Julia Child sent Legal Sea Foods' President and Executive Roger Berkowitz. While the American chef was teaching us how to 'Mast[er] The Art of French Cooking' she was also a regular at their seafood post, acquiring fresh fish at their fish counter. Julia was known for encouraging Americans to cook and consume more seafood, and had a particular penchant for oysters. For her 92nd birthday, Mr. Berkowitz and his Father sent her a clam bake to her California home, and Julia was smitten. So smitten she wrote them a hand written thank you note (a gal after my own heart), a note that they have held on to all of these years. Read more, here.

Garden Party with YSL

Love this shot from the NYTimes Spring Design Magazine. If this isn't Paris in the '60s, I don't know what is...(Read caption above).  

Belle de Jour

It's been gloomy and cold in San Francisco the past few days, perhaps a prelude to summer. Sunday, I took advantage of the grey skies and watched Belle de Jour, the 1967 French drama staring Catherine Denevue, a housewife who is compelled to work as a prostitute in a famous brothel in Paris. It was an interesting film, a little racier than I imagined for a film in the late '60s, but Catherine Denevue was such a vision, as always. Does anyone have any recommendations for old french films?

Tomales Point Trail

One of my most favorite things about living in San Francisco is the close proximity to a plethora of adventures. As I've mentioned too many times to count, Pt. Reyes National Seashore is one of my favorite destinations.

I discovered one of my new favorite hikes with my family over the Easter holiday. For Easter, we rented a home on the National Seashore and filled our weekend with hiking, reading, cooking (heavy oyster consumption of course), spontaneous dance parties and exploring. The Tomales Point Trail in Pt. Reyes is just spectacular. While we didn't complete the entire 9 mi loop, we drank in breathtaking views of the Pacific Ocean, and Tomales Bay, and stopped in our tracks when we saw a huge herd of wild tule elk just feet away from our trail. The landscape was so majestic, peaceful and untouched, it was almost surreal. I've done some pretty exhilarating hikes in the Bay Area, however this particular one takes the crown. After earning our appetite, we stopped at Perry's Deli in Inverness to provision for lunch. A day for the books!

C&C Sabbatical

For the first time, I took a sabbatical from posting and I must say, I truly missed the engagement and inspiration that naturally comes with the research and writing. The past few weeks have been stressful for me between being quite ill, managing the workload from business school and a full-time job. I needed to press pause and focus on the things that needed my immediate attention. We all get to these crossroads and it's important to re-prioritize short-term. What was re-confirmed however, is just how much of a priority C&C is for me and truly, how much value the experience has added to my life. I hope it's made an impact on yours in some way as well. I'm looking forward to getting back into the groove with C&C. xx Caitlin

The Woman In Gold

I had a chance to see the film on Easter Sunday with my sister and really enjoyed the film. Based on the true story of the late Maria Altmann, an elderly Jewish refugee, she, along with her lawyer (played by Ryan Reynolds), fought the government of Austria for almost a decade to reclaim Gustav Klimt's infamous painting of her aunt, Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I (above). The painting was tragically confiscated from her relatives by the Nazis in Vienna, just prior to World War II. The battle was fought in the Supreme Court of the United States, which ruled remarkably in her favor in Republic of Austria v. Altmann (2004). Watch the trailer, here.